Nailable metal post structures



Dec. 18, 1962 G. F. OAKLEY NAILABLE METAL POST STRUCTURES Filed Nov. 5, 1958 ZE IWWMW.

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Gz'lbcrrz F Oakley Unitcd States Patent 3,068,967 NAILABLE METAL POST STRUCTURES Gilbert F. Oakley, Chicago, Ill., assignor, by mesne assignments, to MacLean-Fogg Lock Nut Co., Chicago, 11]., a corporation of Delaware Fiied Nov. 3, 1958, Ser. No. 771,259 1 Claim. (Cl. 189-34) This invention relates to nailable metal post structures, and more particularly to post structures of a type adapted to use at the doorways of railway freight cars and the like, and which post structures are fabricated of metal parts and embody elements to which lading retaining structure may be nailed Without material damage to the post structure.

One of the objects of my invention is to provide a metal post structure adapted to use as a structural element of the side wall of a railway freight car and which, although fabricated from metal parts, will receive and retain fastening elements, such as nails, for holding lad ing retaining structure in place relative thereto.

Another object of this invention is to provide a nailable metal post structure of the type to which reference has been made and which is fabricated to embody formed metal sections welded together and including a nail receiving slot having contours such that it bends a nail to retain it in place when driven into the slot.

This invention also has within its purview the provision of a nailable metal post structure embodying formed sections secured together and providing a nailing slot, as

well as fitting into the space ordinarily occupied by a door post of the type formerly used.

As another object, my invention comprehends the provision of a metal door post to which lading retaining structure may be nailed, and which also has thereon a series of lading strap anchors recessed into the door post structure, so as not .to project into the car or door opening beyond flush relationship with other parts of the post structure.

It is another object of this invention to provide a nailable metal post structure of the type described which can be economically manufactured and installed.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description and the accompanying drawings in which similar characters of reference indicate similar parts throughout the several views: FIG. 1 is a fragmentary longitudinal sectional view taken from the interior of a railway freight car and looking toward a door opening at the longitudinal midportion of the car, which view illustrates the adaptation of a preferred embodiment of my nailable metal post structure to the door posts at opposite sides of the doory;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary side elevational view depicting a portion of the structure shown in FIG. 1 and drawn to a larger scale than FIG. 1 to show details of the embodied structural assembly;

FIGS. 3 and 4 are top sectional views taken substantially at positions indicated by lines 3-3 and 44 respectively in FIG. 2 when viewed in the directions indicated by the arrows accompanying those lines;

FIGS- 5 and..6 arerespectively front and side edge views of a part of the structure illustrated in FIGS. 2, 3 and 4.

j "In the exemplary embodiment of my invention which is shown herein for illustrative purposes, a side wall 14 of a railway freight car has a door opening 15 therein, which door opening is defined at its opposite sides by door posts 16 and 1'7. Except for having the positions of the parts reversed from left to right at the opposite sides of the door opening, the door post structures are ice substantially alike, and a description of one will suffice for both.

In one generally used type of car structure, the door posts 16 and 17 extend upwardly from an underframe structure 18 of the car to upper longitudinally extending framing members such as 19 at the top portion of the side walls of the car. The underframe structure 18 carries flooring 20 which extends across the interior of the car. In this particular type of car structure, a structural member 22, which is of generally U-shaped or channel section, serves as a door post and ordinarily has a wood filler post which fits into the generally U-shaped structural member 22 with the inner surface of the wood exposed toward the interior of the car for nailing purposes. In the disclosed structure, the wood filler post is eliminated and is replaced by metal structure which serves a comparable purpose but which is much more durable. v

Metal sheathing 23 which covers the exterior surface of the side wall of the car has one end secured to the exterior surface of a web portion 24 of the structural member 22. On the side opposite the door opening, a wood nailing strip 25 is secured to a side flange portion 26 of the structural member 22 by fastening means, such as studs 27, which are welded to the side flange portion at positions spaced longitudinally thereof and which project outwardly therefrom. The wood nailing strips 25 serve as anchors to which inner lining boards 28 are nailed. Internally of the car, the surfaces of the lining boards 28 are substantially flush with the inner end of the flange portion 26 of structural member 22, and abut that flange portion.

On the side opposite the flange portion 26, the structural member 22 has a flange portion 29 which extends longitudinally of the structural member in substantially parallel relationship to the flange portion 26 and has a return bent inner flange portion fvfl spaced somewhat inwardly of the post from the flange portion 29 and providing a rounded surface 32 at the interior of the car adjacent the door opening.

As a replacement for the wood filler posts formerly used internally of the structural member 22 to afford nailability, I have provided a structural assembly 33 made principally of metal parts and which fits into the structural member 22 to provide a finishedinterior surface for the post structure and which also affords a more permanent and durable structure to which elements, such as lading braces, grain doors, and the like, may be nailed, as well as serving as a support for lading strap anchors, when desired. This assembly 33 includes a structural member 34 of generally U-shaped or channel section and which is of'a size such that it is mountable between the flange portion 26 and the inner flange portion 30, with the channel or U-shaped member 34 opening into the structural member 22 and having a web portion 35 filling and extending across a major portion of the space between the flange portion 26 and inner flange 30 of the structural member 22. Side flanges 36 and 37 of the channel type structural member 34 are desirably of a length such that the outer side portions of the web portion 35 are in substantially flush relationship with the flange portion 26 and the rounded surface 32 of the structural member 22 when the ends of the flanges engage the web portion 24.

In the form disclosed, the web portion 35 of the structural member 34 is formed to provide a recess 38 extending longitudinally of the inner surface of the post, along which recess a strip-type lading strap anchor 39 may extend without projecting into the car beyond other 7 3 her 34 by means such as welds 40. If the lading strap anchor 39 is not desired, and if provision is not to b made for the mounting of this or other types of lading strap anchors on the post structure, the web 35 of the structural member 34, as may be readily understood, may be substantially straight in section.

To provide the nailable feature of my disclosed metal post structure and for supporting and securing the structural member 34 within the structural member 22, I have provided metal strips 42 and 43 which extend along opposite sides of the flange portions 36 and 37 of the structural member 34 with an edge of each substantially flush with the marginal portions of the web 35.

As depicted in FIGS. 5 and 6, each of the metal strips 42 and 43 is pierced along lines 44 and 45 at laterally spaced positions internally of the opposite edges of the strip, and outer marginal portions 46 and 47 of the strip are formed or offset from the plane of the strip to provide mounting surfaces such as 48 on opposite sides of the metal strip and at positions spaced longitudinally of the strip.

As depicted in FIGS. 2 and 3, the mounting surfaces 48 of the formed or offset outer marginal portions 46 and 47 are mounted against the flange portions 36 and 37 of the structural member 34 and are secured in place relative thereto by welds such as 49 and 50. The intervening undeformed marginal portions of the metal strips are mounted against the inner opposed faces of the flange portion 26 and inner flange 30 of the structural member 22, and are secured in place by means such as welds 52 and 53.

As viewed from the interior of the car, the offset marginal portions of the metal strips 42 and 43 serve as spacers which effectively provide spaces or nailing slots 54 and 55 at positions spaced longitudinally of the post structure and which are at opposite marginal portions of the inner surface of the post structure in the assembly. The lengths of the offset marginal portions 46 and 47 desirably being less than the lengths of the spaces between those offset marginal portions along the metal strips 42 and 43, the spaces which afford the nailing slots extend along a major portion of the full length of the post structure.

Although the offset portions 46 and 47 provide a spacing between the strips 42 and 43 and the adjacent flanges 36 and 37 of the structural member 34 which is selected snugly to engage nails of a predetermined size, additional retention of such nails, when driven into the nail slots, is provided for by effecting a curvature of the nail slots in a direction lateral to the length thereof. In the disclosed structure, this curvature is provided by a lateral bend 56 Which extends the full length of each metal strip 43 to provide a longitudinal bulge on each strip which faces toward the adjacent flange of the structural member 34. Similarly, the flanges 36 and 37 of the structural member 34 have lateral bends 57 and 58 respectively therein and which extend longitudinally of those flanges. The bends 57 and 58 are complementary in curvature to the bends 56 in the metal strips 43, so as to be generally concentric with respect thereto, thereby to provide nailing slots between the metal strips 42 and 43 and the adjacent flanges 36 and 3 7 which are of practically uniform width, although curved, so that a nail driven into the slot is reversely bent during its passage and firmly held or anchored when in place.

In order to provide an effective seal for the nail slots, which seal prevents the flow of grain or granular material through the nail slots, when exposed, a strip 59 of mastic material extends along the full length of each of the metal strips 42 and 43 between the offset marginal portions 46 and 47, so that in the assembly the mastic material fills the space between the bends of the metal strips and the complementary bends of the adjacent flanges of the structural member 34. While such mastic material does not interfere with the driving of nails into the nailing slots, it is of a nature such that it normally fills the nail slots to provide an effective block for the flow of grain or granular material therethrough and also has sufficient flowability in itself to flow into and re-seal holes left by nails which are withdrawn.

From the foregoing description and reference to the accompanying drawings, it may be understood that I have provided a nailable metal post structure readily securable in place to provide parts of door posts in structural members of types in common use in the side walls of railway cars and which affords a durable nail-retaining structure that will provide ample holding ability for nails driven into the structure as well as permitting withdrawal of the nails without appreciable damage to the structure. The post structures of the type herein depicted may, if desired, be utilized to support lading strap anchors in the form of strips, or in other forms.

While I have illustrated a preferred embodiment of my invention, many modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention, and I do not wish to be limited to the precise details of construction set forth, but desire to avail myself of all changes within the scope of the appended claim.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

A door post structure for railway freight cars and the like comprising, in combination, two metal structural members having channel-type sections and one of which is mounted within the other with the channel sections reversed relative to one another to define a hollow post structure, said structural members being spaced from one another along their opposite sides, formed spacer strips extending longitudinally of the structural members between the spaced sides thereof and having portions offset from one another at longitudinally spaced positions to bridge the spaces between said sides, said offset portions of the spacer strips being secured to said sides to secure the structural members together, said strips being spaced from the sides of one of the structural members bctween alternate offset portions to provide nailing slots, and said strips and said sides of one of the structural members having complementarily curved surfaces in spaced and opposed relationship to one another and extending longitudinally thereof.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS I ae 

